As a young adult straddling the line between Generations X and Y, it feels strange to read how scholars and authors from years past envisioned the effect of technology on our society in the first decade of the millennium. Personally, I’m still waiting for the transforming robots, floating cities, and an inexpensive cure for just about every serious disease known to man. However, while technology may not move as quickly as some of us would like, a unique auto race sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense reminds us that self-driving vehicles may replace their human-driven counterparts sooner than we think.

Since 2004, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has sponsored a driverless road race called the Urban Challenge. Teams from around the world compete to design an “autonomous ground vehicle” that can successfully navigate a simulated urban environment under specific rules without the help of a driver or a remote control. These cars depend on sensors and other built-in mechanisms to maneuver.

This year’s Urban Challenge took place in Victorville, CA on November 3 and featured 11 finalists who had to conquer 60 miles of potholes, downed power lines, rocks, and other obstacles in under 6 hours while following California traffic rules. A team from Carnegie Mellon University finished first and claimed the top prize of $2 million. Their entry averaged 14 mph during their championship run, finishing nearly 20 minutes ahead of the second place team from Stanford. An entry from Virginia Tech finished third.

In the big picture, the Urban Challenge shows that autonomous ground vehicles can save lives in times of war by taking soldiers off the battlefield. This technology could also pay huge dividends when it comes to rescue missions and damage control in the event of natural disasters. Regardless, money talks and the more DARPA offers for events like the Urban Challenge, the more likely we’ll see advanced versions of these groundbreaking new vehicles going into the line of fire in the near future.

- posted by Taeho Lim

The fascination probably started young, spending afterschool hours watching Penelope Pitstop and Muttley compete on “Wacky Races,” itself inspired by another favorite movie, ”The Great Race,” starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. The concept of an international road raced appealed to my love of travel, while at the same time feeding my naturally competitive nature without the hassle of having to spend the time and money outfitting and learning how to drive a souped up racer.  I have yet to compete in one or even learn much about them, but was surprised to learn how pervasive these road races are just in the U.S. alone.  Nearly every state has its own club and event.

Amateur road rallying is very different than the professional circuit, which focuses only on speed and sees automakers spending lots of money to produce rally-specific performance cars.  Some of the more well-known ones include the many different WRC (World Rally Championships) international races (Monaco, South Africa), and La Carrera Panamericana through Mexico.  But amateur road rallies are for the everyman/woman, people like you and me, who love driving, love the challenges of discovering a new place, but don’t necessarily dream of being the next Dale Earnhardt. 

The most popular are TSD rallies, which stands for time, speed, and distance.  These rely on navigation and driving skills, rather than speed.  A driver and navigator are given a set of precise instructions and an average speed limit — all within legal limits, as these rallies take place on regular streets and back roads — and must reach the various checkpoints as close to the designated time as possible.  Arriving too early or too late earns points.  The driver with the least points at the end of the rally wins, so it is important to stay on target and maintain the correct speed.  Across and even within the different stages, the average speed requirement can vary, meaning you’ll be calling up some long-forgotten pre-algebra D=RT calculations.

That’s why anyone and any car can participate for a nominal fee.  You don’t need a performance-tuned WRX STi, just honed navigation skills, logic, a keen eye, and a symbiotic driving partner you can trust (maybe that’s why Dick Dastardly and Muttley never won). They are really glorified road trips, requiring extra motivation and extra attention; a chance to see different parts of the country or reacquaint yourself with your own backyard in the spirit of old-fashioned competition.  Reading about the cult of road rallying can be daunting, but for those easily intimidated, most contests have a novice category.  There are also Gimmick Rallies that involve solving clues, counting objects, or a scavenger hunt.

For the more ambitious or seasoned amateur racer, there is always The Great Race.  This is the 1908 New York to Paris race that inspired the 1965 movie, and was a demonstration of the durability and power of the relatively new internal combustion engine. The Great Race continues today, and in 2008 will celebrate the 100th anniversary with a 20,000-mile New York to Paris competition focused on cars sporting innovative green fuel technology.  There will also be a category for strictly vintage Great Race-inspired vehicles.  So strap on those goggles and leather driving gloves, pack a map and some water, and get driving.

No doubt it’s a sign of the times that even when unveiling a next-generation motorsport-based sport coupe with a new 420-horsepower V8 engine, the automaker still makes an effort to sneak a few energy-efficient components into the car’s makeup. So what’s the motivation behind this curious mix? Smart manufacturing techniques, or political brownie points? You be the judge.

The vehicle in question is the new BMW M3, which for the first time in its history is equipped with said V8 engine, a little 4.0-liter light-alloy powerhouse that borrows design elements from BMW’s Formula 1 race team engines, and is, in fact, about 30 pounds lighter than the V6 engine it replaces. In fact, a lot about the new M3 is high-tech and efficient. Take the brakes. They’re regenerative, meaning they actually generate electric power when the driver applies a foot to the brake pedal and engages the braking mechanism. The energy generated by the brakes is used to power the car’s on-board computer and charges the battery, conserving fuel, according to BMW.

BMW also notes that the 2008 M3 is the first production car in its segment with a roof made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (again, borrowed from the motorsport side), resulting in a lighter, more efficient and more agile vehicle with a lower center of gravity.

As far as that V8 engine is concerned, it’s powerful enough to drive the M3 from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (about 60 miles per hour) in just under 5 seconds, yet is efficient enough to get almost 23 miles to a gallon of gas. So in many ways, it’s the best of both worlds for power-loving drivers who also like to feel they’re doing their small part to conserve energy resources.

Technology aside, where the new M3 really excels is in its styling, with a “powerdome” hood, a new front end with large air intakes, a sweptback roofline, air intake gills in the front side panels, a discreet spoiler at the rear, dual tailpipes, flared wheel arches, and “tuning fork” high-performance 19-inch wheels.

Equipment and specifications for the U.S. models have not yet been finalized, and more information will be released as we get closer to the car’s U.S. introduction.

I’ll admit, I don’t know much about NASCAR. Like most people in the Northeast, I figure we’ll leave hockey to the Canadians and auto-racing to our friends down South.

In any event, racing has made its annual trip to the forefront of the sports page as NASCAR introduces the Car of Tomorrow for 16 races in 2007 and 36 in 2008. The news comes nearly 6 years after the death of racing legend Dale Earnhardt at the 2001 Indy 500. The public backlash prompted drivers, officials, and engineers to reassess car safety standards and design a safer car.

If you saw Talladega Nights last summer, you’ll remember that Reese Bobby told his son Ricky’s classmates at career day that, “Your teacher wants you to go slow, and she’s wrong because it’s the fastest who get paid and it’s the fastest who get laid.” And that mentality reflects the defiant reaction from drivers who don’t like the boxier body, clunkier rear wing, and front splitter designed to provide better balance. More politically correct drivers have publicly taken a wait-and-see attitude and figure they’ll need some time to adjust to the new features. Regardless, the Car of Tomorrow maintains a maximum speed of 200 mph and should allow for easier passing.

Even though I don’t really follow NASCAR, I got a sense of the important place racing holds in Southern culture from living in Virginia for 3 years. Every gas station and WalMart seemed to carry Dale Earnhardt jackets or memorabilia and I saw plenty of people wearing them. So in my mind, NASCAR’s taking a step in the right direction in a sport bent on unbridled speed.

For the full scoop, visit the following links:

ESPN

Yahoo

- Posted by Taeho Lim

When the green flag dropped this weekend on The Great American Race in Daytona, NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series had what, at first blush, must have seemed like a distinctly foreign new flavor. The 2007 Daytona 500 served as the Nextel Cup Series debut of Toyota as some of  NASCAR’s established stars such as Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarett, Jeremy Mayfield, and Brian Vickers were be among those driving their Camrys into battle.

NASCAR long since gave up their stated goal of racing full-size, two-door American muscle cars when the full-size, two-door American muscle car went the way of the carburetor (which ironically finds its last great refuge in NASCAR), but America’s 5^th major sport stalwartly held to it’s assertion that American cars would form the centerpiece of stock car racing.

When it was announced that the Camry would enter the Nextel Cup and Busch Series in January of 2006, the howls of the purists were long, loud and plaintive. But I wonder how many of the purists know that the Camry was the only nameplate in the starting grid in Daytona that is actually built in the United States. Chevy’s Monte Carlo, a long time staple of the series, is built in Canada as is the Dodge Charger which joined the series in 2005. Dodge of course is now owned by a German company but still carries the perception of an American brand. Ford’s entry, the Fusion is made in Mexico, a long way from Toyota’s manufacturing facilities in the Blue Hills of Kentucky.

And while the Daytona 500 was Toyota’s coming out party in Nextel Cup, the race marked the third anniversary of the Japanese manufacturer’s participation in NASCAR’s higher profile racing series. Toyota joined NASCAR’s pickup truck schedule, the Craftsman Truck Series in February of 2004, and won their first race in July of that same year. In 2006 Tundras found their way to Victory Lane in 12 of 25 races and Todd Bodine won the series Championship for Toyota, their second in a NASCAR series following a 2003 win NASCAR’s relatively unknown Dash Series.

Of course once you breakdown the cars in the Nextel Cup series you find out that their 2007 version of the “stock car” is far from stock. Any resemblance between Michael Waltrip’s NAPA Auto Parts Camry at Daytona and the Camry in your neighborhood showroom is purely coincidental and less than skin deep. The printed graphics that depict the Camry’s headlights are pretty much where the similarities end.

Underneath the basically generic sheet metal of a typical Nextel Cup car, a rolled steel-tube chassis provides a fortress of a roll cage that protects the driver from all angles. In the case of the Toyotas on race day that chassis will also carry the Camry Racing V8, a power plant fed 112-octane Sunoco fuel by an 830-cfm carburetor.

The 358-cubic-inch cast iron engine with aluminum heads will generate 850 hp while turning 9000 rpm for the better part of three and a half hours each Sunday. Its 12:1 compression ratio will help provide 550 ft/lb of torque at 7500 rpm.

Toyota continues to battle for acceptance in the garage amid criticism that they are attempting to buy dominance in the series by out-spending their struggling American competitors and raiding their team talent. But at least the owner of one of NASCAR’s biggest stable of race teams, Jack Roush of Roush Racing, believes that this only the beginning of the march of foreign manufacturers into America’s premier racing series.

“Nissan, Honda, Toyota will all be here,” he said. “I just hope when we’re done with it, we still have Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler.”

We all seem to be pretty green-minded here at the CarGurus blog these days; my excuse is that a friend of mine recently came back from Tennessee and the “Inconvenient Truth” training with Al Gore and company, and her enthusiasm and wealth of information has left me feeling like a fossil-fuel-swilling roadhog.

But wait! There’s hope on the horizon, even for hopeless car junkies and racing aficionados. While reading this interesting article about the rise of bioethanol in Europe, I discovered that Lotus has created a bio-powered racing car, the Lotus Exige 265E.

What could be cooler than a supercharged Exige? A supercharged Exige that delivers 265 horsepower and faster speeds than the regular Exige, and does it all on E85 fuel (that’s 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). The unique concept car is a one-off demonstration model, but the performance has been so consistent that reviewers and drivers alike are calling for Lotus to add a bio-friendly element to its luxury line.

The green stripe is for…well, you’ve probably figured it out, but the sleek, streamlined design is old-school Lotus at its finest. The lucky people at CarMagazine.co.uk got to take this beauty for a spin, and it’s every bit as fast as it looks.

Okay, so you probably can’t afford a Lotus (I know I can’t). But this kind of creativity is testing the limits of what new, planet-friendlier fuels can do. We’re seeing innovation like this all over Europe–Saab’s Biopower models, which are being sold right now in Sweden and elsewhere, are an indication of how these alternative-fuel cars can command a place in the market.

And my only question is this: is the American car industry going to catch up?

With production continuing in 2007 and delivery expected sometime next year, tongues are wagging in anticipation of the first model 2008 Audi R8, a luxury sports car modeled after the LeMans-winning R8 race car. Have you ordered yours yet? If not, you may be too late to snatch this two-seater up. First debuting at the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show as a prototype, this R8 AWD quattro is bound to be a road-burner, delivering on style and performance.

First, its look. Ready to pounce, its aluminum body crouches low to the ground. Its round roofline and large wheel wells are a ball of energy, aching to pick a fight. Inside, everything is laid out with the racer in mind, with a cockpit dash and driver-oriented console and controls. The foot well has extra space for maximum comfort. Being an Audi, it comes with all the bells and whistles that scream elegance and comfort, but once you step behind the wheel, your mind will only be on the road.

And this Audi is all about the road. It has the first ever mid-mounted engine in a passenger car. As in an actual racing car, this provides more even weight distribution. What makes the R8 unique is the mid-engine placement in front of the rear axle. Yes, it sits behind the cabin, allowing its 4.2-liter V8 engine to rocket to 420-hp without a problem, topping out at 187 mph, with 317 lb-ft of torque. It’s been clocked at 0-62 in 4.4 seconds. This is an engine you’ll want to show off, and the R8 lets you do just that, through a rear window housing that exposes the R8’s muscle. Not subtle, but then nothing about this car is. Special optional LEDs light it up at night, letting everyone know what’s coming. Other options include sports seating, 19-inch wheels, and a magnetic active suspension.

The 2008 R8 is available with either a 6-speed manual or R-tronic sequential shift transmission. Reports are the torque action is top-notch, and the engine sound raises goosebumps and uncontrollable maniacal laughter in anyone behind the wheel. Check out more info and sneak peeks at http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/2006_los_angeles/0612_2008_audi_r8/

That’s the title of an interesting article by Sean Captain in yesterday’s New York Times. What do you think?